Improvement in compressed-air engines



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l EDWIN lI. GRANT, Oli1 WASHINGTON, DISTRCT OF COLUMBIA.

Lcftcrs Patent No.l94,594, dated Hcptcmb/'r T, i869.

IMPROVEMENT IN COMPRESSED-AIR ENGINES.

Tlie Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part ofthe same.

To all u'hom` yit lmuy concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWIN H. GRANT, of Washington, iu the District ot' (oluiiihia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Compressed-Air Engines; and I do hereby declare that the tbllowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof', i'ctifrence being had to the annexed drawings, making part ot' this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan or top view ot' an engine ot' ordinary construction havinr my improvements coninet-ions in the particles with which it comes in contact, or, in other words, that it agitates such particles, and gives motion to the .sa-me, 'at-the same time that it imparts thereto a considerable amount of heat. My invention is designed to render available these forces in givingr motion to the piston ot' an engine; and to this end,

It consists in an engine to the cylinder of which air is admitted under pressure, and into which a current 'y ot electricity is conducted after it entered such cylinder.

The'invention furtlicr consists in the eoiiihiiiatioii and a-rrangzeinent of itsparts, :is will bc'moro fully described hereinafter.

,lo enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, in the drawings, ift-iprcsonts the frame-work ot an engine;

B, the cylinder;

,0, the piston-rod;

1), the cross-head;

l] E, the guides;

l, the connecting-rml;

( lr, the crank;

H, the shalt;

i, the eccentric t'or moving the valve; and

K, the valve-rod.

All ot' thc-above parts ma)4 be ot' any approved or suitable construction but as they are in common use and familiar devices, and as they do not forni any part ot'my present invention, they nocd not bc particularly vdescribed here.

lt is proper to say that any engine that is capable ot' working steam or air advaiitageonsly, and which is supplied with a piinip for compressing air, is a snitable one to act in conjunction with my improvements, which do not depend at. allA upon the construction of the engine with which they are connected for their elliciency.

` The devices necessary to carry out and make available this invention are, iii-st, ay suitable engine in which to work air which has been previously compressed to any extent which may be. found advantageous, an air-pump with which to compress the air, a receiver into which fsneh air passes from the pump, suitable pipes to carry the airfroiii the pump to the receptacle, and from thence to valve-chest ot' .the engine, and a galvai'iic battery vfor-generating electricity, which battery is to be supplied with the necssarywires or conduct-ors for conveying such electricity to the air within the cylinder, and the necessary means for making"r and breaking the connection between such wires and the battery or niaterial contained therein.

The above-enumerated devices will now bc explained singly, and referred to by letters corresimnding with those seen on the drawings, where A represents a pump, which may be driven troni-thc 'cross-head ofthe engine., as shown, or in any other `convenient nia-nner. This -piimp maybe 0i' any approved construetioi'ithat will'rcnder it capable ot' keep ing the recepti'icle filled with Vair ofthe required pressure.

a.li represents a pipe which leads from the pump A to the receptacle or receiver (1', while Bt' represents thc pipe which conducts thc air from the receiver to the valve-chest ot' the engine.

G represents al vessel, which may be ot' any desired form, dimensions, and material, and should be of sufticient strength to sustain an internal pressure equal to that ot' as many atmospheres as it will at any time be desirable to use.

This vessel may be fixed in its `.position with reference to the. pump aiid the engine which supplies it, and which, in turn, receives its supply from it; or a series of vessels ina-y be provided, into which air may be compressed by any pump, however driven, which vessels may bc transported to a-iiy place where an engine happens to be located, and each in turn put iii communication with such cngines cylinder, and thus a strictly portable motive-agent may bc furnished it' found desirable.

lt will bc observed that in stopping the. engine atanytime it will be necessary to do so when the receptacle is tilled with air at a pressure sniiiciently great to start thc engine again, and at such times to close the communication between the receptacle l and the 'nivo-chest, by means oi' any suitable valve or cock.

Vil* represents an electric or galvanic hat-teryor batteries, of-whieh there may be one or more, as circumstances may require. These batteries may be of the forni constructed by Grove, Da v, Nicholson, Small, or

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of any other approved and known form, as 'my inventio'n does not depend upon the manner of producing the electrical or galvauic current.

The-battery or batteries are to be placed in some convenientposition withreference to the working-cyliuder, so that the conductors through 'o along which the current passes may enter the cylindernear'its ends and at diiiereut points, so that those entering through one side or port-ion shall point directly toward those enteriugtluough the other side or portion.

The cylinder, at the pointswhere these conductors enter it, is to be provided with arecess or a socket containing such recess, for the reception of India rubher, sealing-wax, or some other nou-conducting 'substanec, through which such conductors are to pass. ll prefer to tix the positions of these conductors in the eyliuder with reference to the distance between their ends or points. and regulate thetorcc of the current `portions which enter the cylinderadjustable, and placing them ata greateror less distance from each other. lu practiee, a continuous current of electricity may he allowed to tiow i'rom the batterv or batteries into the cylinder, and thus cause the ingoing jet oi air to come in contact therewith at the instant ot' its entrance, by which the result spoken of in the beginning ot' this specification is produced; hut as this would he likely to eause such an agitation in the intlowing current ot' air as to some extent to interfere with the proper tilling ot" the cylinder therewith, I pret'er to attaeh to the cross-head ofthe engine, or to some other ot' its moving parts, some ot' the well-known devices for making and breaking the circuit, or of put-ting the terminal parts of the conductors in communication with the batteries, and thus providing the means of automatically admitting the current of electricity to the cylinder at'ter the requisite amount ofair has been admitted to produce the stroke of the piston, thus causingV any in crease of power. consequent, upon the expansion or agitation of such air to be expended in forcing forward the piston rather than in resisting the incoming current of air. i

D" represents the conducting-wires, which extend from the batteries to the cylinder. They may be of' any good culminating-material, and of any size required for the particular engine and battery which they are to connect. Y

I have thus far described my improvement as applicable only to engines in which compressed airis to be used as the motive-agent, but it is apparent that, it is equally applicable to euginesiu which Vsteam is so used, the arrangement of devices being substantially the same in either case.'

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim, audsdesire to secure by Letters Patent, isy 1. An engine combining in its construction the following elenlents, namely, a cylinder in which compressed aii' is used as a motive-agent, 'a reservoir for such air, and a galvainic or electric battery or. batteries for producing a currentot' electricity to be conducted to said cylinder, substantially in the manner set forth.

2. The combination of the cylinder B, air-pump A', reservoir C', connecting-pipes B1 B2, batteries DI, and conducting-wires or connections, substantiallyY as set forth and shown.

8. The combination of an air-receiver, a workingcylinder, and a galvanie 4or electric battery, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony \\'lnueot`,'I have signed my name to this speeitieation, in the presence ot two subscribing witnesses.

EDWIN H. GRANT.

Witnesses:

1V. D. OOoXNEu, s. F. DOLBEAR. 

